The present invention relates to a programmable steerable robot. The invention is particularly useful as a robot for cleaning swimming pools, and is therefore described below with respect to this application, but it will be appreciated that the invention could be used in many other applications, such as in toy robots, carpet cleaner robots, robotic lawn mower, and the like.
Programmable steerable robots are known in the prior art for cleaning swimming pools. Such known robots are self-propelled, either by self-contained electrical motor drives, or by hydraulic motor drives which are coupled to the swimming pool suction system for propelling the robot. An example of an electrically-driven robot of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,600; and an example of a hydraulically-driven robot of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,800. Both types of robots are designed to function under water, and to be self-propelled so as to clean the bottom and side surfaces of the swimming pools. Both types are therefore generally programmable so as to automatically change the direction of travel according to the dimensions of the surfaces being cleaned.
One advantage of the electrically-driven robots of this type is that they are much more easily programmable to automatically control the electrical motors according to the paths to be traversed by the robot. A disadvantage of electrically-driven robots, however, is that the electrical motor drives, as well as all the other electrical components, must be completely sealed against the entry of water. Hydraulically-driven robots of this type do not require complete sealing since they have no electrical components; however, they are difficult to program to automatically control the path of travel of the robot according to the surfaces being cleaned. For example, the swimming-pool robot described in the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,800, includes cam members driven by the hydraulic motor to selectively raise the propelling devices according to the desired path of travel of the robot. Among other disadvantages, such a programming device is, as a practical matter, limited as to the various programs that can be preset.